UN Climate Change Conference will produce enough CO2 to fill 150 buses

An international climate change conference will produce the same amount of carbon dioxide as 2,200 homes produce in a year.

By Louise Gray, Environment Correspondent Last Updated: 6:14PM GMT 10 Dec 2008

Representatives from 192 countries as well as environmental groups, aid agencies and industry groups have gathered in Poznan, Poland for the UN Climate Change Conference for talks on cutting carbon emissions.
However, 13,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide will be produced by the conference. This is enough to fill 150 London buses or the new Wembley Stadium six times over, according to carbon offsetting group Climate Care.
The same amount of carbon is produced every year by 2,200 homes or by powering a low energy light bulb for a year in half a million UK households, the Energy Saving Trust has calculated.
The Polish Goverment has vowed to offset all the emissions once the two week conference is over by planting trees or investing in green technologies.
The UK sent 32 delegates from the Department of Energy and Climate Change. About a third flew part of the way and on by train and the remaining two thirds flew direct. The Government also plans to offset emissions.
But Sara Shaw of Tearfund, a charity that campaigned to get more people to travel to the conference by train, said Governments could do more to set an example.
She said: "The reality is if you are convening people from all over the world they will have to fly but while talks are in Europe it would be great if Government delegations did their best to travel in the most carbon-friendly way.
"It shows integrity and sends a message that they are taking their own impact seriously."